Claimed by the Dragon King (High House Draconis Book 5)

by Riley Storm

  Vampires simply vanished as the earth swallowed them up, or they disappeared into ash. Scores more withered up and fell as the water in their very bodies was ripped free by the might of the elder dragons.

  The other Houses charged the lines, smashing through them and continuing on. A shadow wielder batted away half a dozen wolves, leaving them in broken heaps, but he went down as the seventh clamped its jaws around the creature’s neck. A bear rolled by, pausing just long enough to raise one mighty paw and smash the skull flat.

  Elsewhere, a pair of gryphons bore one of the winged vampires to the ground, where a pride of lions raced in to rip it limb from limb.

  Despite all that, Honorius walked through the mayhem unharmed. None who came close could touch him.

  “To me, my brothers!” Galen shouted, resuming his human form.

  He thrust both hands forward, a massive shrieking gale of wind shooting forward.

  Honorius barely slowed.

  Valla came up beside Galen and ice flowed forth from his palms, impacting upon the shadows around Honorius and shattering into thousands of pieces.

  Still the elder vampire came on, seemingly unconcerned.

  Victor and Aaric joined in the attack, water and fire blasting in at the two-thousand-year-old creature.

  Green-gold magic battered against the shadow shield as well. Jax wasn’t far behind, but his onyx metal attack fell aside like so much nothingness. Honorius had slowed, but barely.

  Several other mages came to them, all of them old, wearing identical black robes.

  “Forgive us,” one of them said to him.

  Galen frowned, expecting treachery, but then he understood as blue beams of forbidden magic slashed out.

  Honorius paused mid-step, the sudden addition of such heavy magic starting to take its toll on him. But then he leaned forward, and onward he came. The sheer amount of energy being unleashed upon him was bouncing off and slaughtering his fellow vampires as he walked through their ranks.

  Wisely, the shifters still in his path scattered, knowing they couldn’t withstand such an attack.

  More fire and other elements joined in the attack as other dragons saw what was happening and rushed to help.

  Then a light of pure gold spat forward from Galen’s right. Tarryl had recovered from the earlier attack, and he poured his phoenix light into the dreadful enemy.

  Honorius slowed now.

  The assembled allies pushed forward.

  “Stay on him!” Galen bellowed, pouring everything he had into it.

  Beside him, he watched in awe as Kyla’s magic turned brighter and brighter. She shrieked something unintelligible, and then her magic turned silver. He glanced over at her, noting that like before, her eyes were also glowing with that same silvery-platinum light. Power billowed her coat out behind her, hair nearly standing on its end.

  Whatever it was she was doing, it was too much for Honorius.

  The elder vampire wavered, then took a step back. His shield of shadows had been pushed back up nearly against his hand. Galen watched in awe as it continued to be beaten back. The now exposed vampire hand simply vanished, torn to nothingness by the awesome display of power.

  Still the shadows swirled, but they were losing. With every passing second, more of Honorius’ arm was exposed, slowly disappearing as he was shredded down to his very core.

  Galen roared and as one, the allies gave it their every last bit of power. The shadows evaporated.

  Honorius didn’t even have time to scream before the wave of power flashed over him. When it passed, nothing remained.

  Just like that, it was over.

  38

  With Honorius’ death, the vampires broke.

  Unlike before, however, the shifters weren’t going to let them escape. The shadows were burned from the skies, and on the ground the vampires were hunted down. Vicious wolves and angry bears, eager for vengeance over their fallen comrades made sure that none of them survived.

  Overhead, dragons in numbers the world hadn’t seen in a century or more swirled, many of them helping direct the ground-bound shifters to pockets of resistance.

  “We did it,” he said dully, still in shock as the enemy forces disintegrated around them.

  “You did it,” Aaric said as he approached, weary and injured, needing to rest on Valla, who was helping support the wounded fire dragon.

  “Me?” he asked, confused. “This was everyone, working together.”

  “You knew when they were going to attack,” Aaric pointed out. “To tell our allies when to arrive.”

  “You also let yourself get seduced by a mage, who didn’t want to let you die, so went and took over the Mage Guild just to bring you help,” Jax said with a shrug, the earth dragon seemingly none the worse for wear.

  “Oh, and you went and woke up the rest of the dragons with the help of that mage,” Victor said with a shrug, one harm hanging limply from his side, a giant gash running from his neck down to his right hip.

  “What? That is not how it went down,” he protested.

  “That’s how it seems to me,” another voice said from next to him.

  “That’s ‘cause you like the idea that I was seduced by you, and not vice versa,” Galen growled, sweeping Kyla up into his arms, ignoring the unexpected pain in his back as he did.

  Apparently, he’d taken several wounds during the fight that he hadn’t even realized.

  “Maybe,” she said, letting the hug linger on.

  Galen didn’t fight it. He wanted to hold onto her for as long as he could without letting go. Fate had given them a new lease of life in the most unexpected of ways, and he intended to cherish it.

  “You acted like a real King out there,” she said quietly. “I’m proud of you, my love.”

  “Thank you. But I’m just as glad to give the title up,” he said.

  “Give it up?” Jax asked, alarmed. “Why would you do that?”

  Galen gave his younger earthly cousin a frown. “Did you miss the part where all the other dragons are awake now? Including the previous Council members?”

  “Awake in a world they don’t know. Where things have changed beyond their understanding,” Jax pointed out. “You have the mantle of King, and it is yours now until you relinquish it.”

  “I will not fight a civil war just to retain a title I don’t deserve,” Galen said quietly.

  “Whether you want it or not, you do deserve it,” Aaric argued. “I will stand by you. I would rather you as our King. Someone who understands the world we inhabit now, and who wants to bring us more into it, not keep us aloof.”

  “I too, would prefer you as King.”

  Galen turned to see a delegation of bears approaching, led by a diminutive yet intense woman. “You must be Kaelyn,” he said, giving the Queen of House Ursa a deep nod of his head.

  “I am,” she said, limping heavily, though she walked without any assistance.

  A proud woman, Galen immediately respected her, realizing this must have been the bear he saw charge first into the vampires’ lines.

  Several more groups came up, including the nearly albino wolf he’d seen charge in next to Kaelyn.

  “Logan of Canis, I presume,” he said as the wolf shifter resumed his human form. “No ogling,” he said, leaning over to whisper loudly at Kyla.

  “Oh grow up,” she said, smacking him on the shoulder. “Just cause he’s tall, handsome, very fit, with a big—”

  Galen’s arm came up and he covered her mouth before she could say anything more.

  “Entourage,” Kyla managed to get out after prying his hand free. “A big entourage, which means he’s probably a good person to have so many friends.”

  The assembled group, including King Logan shared in the laugh.

  “Thank you for coming,” Galen said to them, nodding to all, including Kings Tarryl and Benjamin of Raptere and Panthere respectively. “I am deeply sorry for your losses.”

  All of the shifters shared a moment of silence fo
r the fallen.

  “We didn’t lose nearly as many as we would have, thanks to your timely aid,” Kaelyn said, directing her words at Kyla. “Your mages saved a great many shifter lives this day. Thank you.”

  Each of the assembled heads added their thanks.

  “You did a good job, Archmage,” Galen said, emphasizing the word so that she wouldn’t forget that he intended to hear that story from her.

  “Archmage?” Kaelyn asked in surprise. “I was under the impression…”

  “Things have changed,” Kyla said. “And will continue to change. I am done with the animosity between our kinds. We all represent humanity to the rest of the paranormal, and it is time we started looking at humanity as a power unto itself, not to our respective kinds. We shall take our place among the other powers, working together.”

  She paused and looked around, including up at Galen. “Um, if you guys want to of course,” she added awkwardly.

  “We’re in,” Kaelyn said without hesitation.

  Logan glanced at the rest of his ‘entourage’, the Canis Council, Galen assumed, and after receiving nods from them, he too agreed.

  “We will help to bridge the divide as well,” Tarryl said after confirming with Benjamin that he was on the same page.

  All eyes turned to Galen, and he suddenly realized they were waiting for him.

  “I, for one, am tired of fighting, tired of war,” Galen said. “Peace, prosperity and friendship is something I would welcome eagerly, with open arms.”

  “So are you in?” Kyla asked eagerly.

  “Like I would survive my mate’s wrath if I wasn’t,” he joked, then jumped as she flicked a red magic spark at his arm. “Okay, okay, I’m in. We’re in, the dragons are in!”

  “Good,” Kyla said, nodding her approval. Then she paused, looking around uncomfortably. “So what now?”

  “Now we ensure that not a single vampire escapes,” Galen said. “Once that is done, we tend to our wounded.” He turned to Tarryl. “Can you send word after your men, that they may turn around and return their cargo to Drakon Keep?”

  “Of course,” the King of Raptere said, turning to one of his lieutenants to issue the orders that would see the mates of Galen’s brothers returned now that it was safe.

  “Thank you again for your aid in that,” Valla said. “Knowing my mate and child were safe was a relief.”

  The others nodded their thanks as well.

  “You are most welcome,” Tarryl said with a smile. “Though I would advise perhaps offering to buy a beer or two for the gryphons who carried them away. They’ll be a bit upset that they missed this fight.”

  Valla threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll buy them an entire keg each if they want!”

  “The darkness has been defeated,” Galen said into the silence that followed as the laughter faded away. “Perhaps we can use this as a time to look into the light. To let hope and the potential of prosperity guide us forward, into a new age. Shifters united in alliance with one another, and learning more about our new friends, the mages. What a time to be alive.”

  “Hear, hear,” Kaelyn echoed, and the others all chimed in.

  The other shifters departed to see to their Houses, leaving Galen alone with Kyla and his brothers.

  “We did it,” he said quietly, still not entirely believing it.

  Kyla smiled and hugged him tight. “Yes, we did.”

  “So,” Jax asked. “What’s the deal with this whole Archmage title?”

  Galen looked down at his mate. “I’m not sure, but once I manage to get the details, I intend to share. It sounds like my dear Kyla was somewhat busy during her little absence from our midst.”

  Kyla squirmed in his arms, uncomfortable at the attention. “It was nothing, really, I swear.”

  “Nothing, hmm? You stood up to your leader, told him to come help us, and when he refused you challenged him to a fight. A fight you won, then you forced the majority of the Guild, by the looks of it, to come to our aid in a fight that was quite possibly going to be to the death?”

  Kyla shrugged.

  “Good lord,” he muttered. “Someone save me the first time you tell me that ‘nothing’s wrong,’ if that’s your definition of nothing.”

  Kyla’s fist thudded into his chest, but he just laughed and swept her up into a spinning hug.

  “We’ve been given a new lease of life, my love,” he said quietly. “I hope you know I have no intentions of backing down from it.”

  “Good,” Kyla said. “Me too.”

  “Yeah?” he asked with a wide grin.

  “Mmm hmm,” she said playfully, dragging her index finger between his pecs. “In fact, you might say you have…wait for it…nothing to worry about with me.”

  Galen just groaned.

  39

  “You’re going to have to do it eventually,” Kyla pointed out, resting her head comfortably on his chest

  Galen didn’t reply. She couldn’t see his face from the angle at which she lay, but her best guess was that he was staring straight upward at the ceiling.

  “It’s been forty-eight hours,” she added. “Things are going to get more complicated the longer you let this go on, my darling dearest. You know that as well as I do.”

  “Maybe,” he admitted. “Maybe not.”

  “Seriously? You’ve got several hundred dragons awake now, and none of them speaks modern English or understands the world they’re a part of. How do you not expect this to become a problem?"

  “Four hundred and sixty-six, to be exact,” Galen said quietly.

  “That’s a lot of trouble just waiting to happen.” She rubbed his firm stomach, feeling his abs through his shirt. “Besides, I’m going to have to leave for a bit soon anyway. I have things I must take care of back at the Academy.”

  “I can’t believe you’re going to just give up the title of Archmage like that.” She could feel his disbelief as he spoke.

  “I don’t need the title. I don’t want the title,” she added. “I’ve tapped into something new, Galen, some sort of new magic. I don’t know what, or how, but I have.”

  A hand came up to play with her hair. “Yeah, I can tell,” he said, letting her newly platinum hair fall back to her head. “I kind of like it.”

  “Well, whatever the magic is, it seems to have gone right to my head,” she joked, making light of the fact that during the final battle, her use of this new magic had turned her hair the color of her magic.

  And also the color of his scales.

  “That’s all we need,” Galen agreed. “A cocky mage walking around Drakon Keep.” He tensed as he said it.

  “What?” she asked, propping herself up on one elbow so that she could look him in the eyes. “What’s wrong, Galen?”

  “It’s just that,” he said quietly. “You, here at the Keep.”

  “We’ve been over this,” she said. “I want to be with you. That means here, at the Keep. Together.”

  “Why do you have to be the one who gives up your position,” he challenged, not for the first time. “I could just as easily give up my title and come live with you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Because you fit here, my love. As do I. Neither of us fits at the Academy. I’ve outgrown it, and you, well, you’d be bored to death in a week, trust me. Then you’d start trying to run an underground fight club with the mages, and I’d find out and have to join it anonymously and kick your ass, and when you finally found out it was me the entire time, you’d be super cheesed and feel all emasculated by it and then…what?” she asked as Galen’s jaw fell further and further open.

  “You’ve thought about this!” he said accusingly. “In detail!”

  “Of course, I have, you big dope,” she said, patting him on the chest. “I put thought into deciding to stay here with you, believe it or not. I wasn’t sure which choice would be the better one for us. Now I know. As do you.”

  Galen stroked his jaw. “Still, an underground fight club does sound entertaining.�
�

  “Nope.”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “What do you mean, nope?”

  “There isn’t one,” she said innocently. “Never will be. Certainly not that the King would ever find out about.”

  “Kyla Langston…” Galen rumbled warningly. “What have you been up to?”

  She grinned and played her trump card. “Nothing, my dear.”

  Galen sagged back into the bed with a heavy sigh. “I am going to rue that word for a long, long time.”

  “As long as I can make you, yes,” she said, leaning in to kiss his cheek playfully. He tilted his head to the side and the kiss became something more, something deeper.

  When they eventually broke apart, she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

  “Come on,” she said, tugging at his arm. “Let’s get this over with. Once it’s done, it’s done. Everyone is back now, since the last of the vampires was tracked down and the remaining dragons returned almost four hours ago. You need to address them. To figure this all out.”

  “They won’t let me be King,” he said.

  “I’m telling you. You might be surprised,” she said. “Now up.”

  She flicked a hand at him and a spark of red magic shot into the side of his hip, making the big dragon yelp and rub his side and behind.

  “Yeah, just like that. Touch yourself for me, baby,” she joked in as raunchy a voice as possible.

  “You’re ridiculous,” Galen said, and winds picked up, pushing her against the back wall and pinning her there, spread-eagled.

  Her mate came over, looming over her, leering at her suggestively, running his hands freely across her body, touching her wherever he liked. She struggled against the bonds, but the wind held her fast. She was trapped.

  “This isn’t fair,” she said as he kissed her neck, one hand gently tweaking her nipple.

  As always, her body responded to his touch almost immediately.

  “Never said it was,” Galen growled, hot breath washing over her ear. “Now, you just stay there while I go claim my seat as King, and when I get back, I’m going to show you just how a ruler treats one of his subjects when they misbehave.”

  “What? Hey! Wait! No! You can’t do that!” she protested, struggling harder as he gave her a wink and headed toward the exit. “Not fair, mister. You’ll pay for this!” she called after him.